Sideshow
Toy has been working on some unique old television licenses lately, but
none are more unusual than Hogan' Heroes.

This line actually appeals to two groups -
fans of the show of course, but also sixth scale military collectors who
would love to have Sergeant Schultz standing next to the rest of their
German military.

There are three figures in this set -
Colonel Klink, Sergeant Schultz, and Hogan himself. I've only seen these
on-line so far, but I'm betting they'll turn up at Media Play as well.

Packaging - ***
The boxes are a little bigger this time around, but not up to the same level
of quality as some of the other recent releases.

The nicest aspect is the large,
full color picture of each of the three characters on the front.
There's additional photos on the back and inside flap, but overall there's
less text covering the show than say, the Outer Limits boxes.

These aren't as collector
friendly either. While the insert design allows for fewer twisty ties
than in the past, the included stand is glued to the inside box.

Sculpting - Schultz ***1/2;
Hogan ***; Klink **1/2
Mat Falls did the work here once again, and some are better than others.

Schultz is the best of the
three, and he's really captured a great, appropriate facial sculpt.
There's no doubt this is Sergeant Schultz, and you won't be disappointed.

Hogan falls somewhere slightly
below that, but not too far. It's a good Bob Crane sculpt, but the
expression is slightly off. He looks a little more evil than scheming.

The one I was most looking
forward to is Klink, and unfortunately his sculpt doesn't really work.
It's definitely him, but the expression isn't right. They tried to
capture the same look as you see on the front of his box, his patented
smirk. You can see the twinkle in his eye and although the corners of
his mouth are turned down, he's clearly pleased with himself.

On the figure, this doesn't
work, and he just looks sad and depressed. I suspect it's because the
expression isn't exaggerated enough. If you look at the photo, you can
see how strong the expression is, but the figure has a softer version, with
less extreme lines. However, the monocle works well, and fits
correctly on the face.

Paint - ***1/2
I had no real problems with any of the paint ops on all three figures.
The hair, eyebrows and eyes are all neatly done, and the facial skin tone is
very good. The flesh tone is very even and consistent as well, and the
lips - often a tough one for people to get right - look realistic, and not
like these guys are wearing lip stick. Although Bob Crane probably did
more than I'd like to know.

Articulation - ***1/2
The Sideshow articulation is the same as always, and is still one of the
best bodies around. I had no trouble posing them in a variety of
appropriate positions, and the legs and hips were tight.

While all three figures come
with the new stands, you won't be forced to use them if you don't want
to. All three stood fine on their own, although the boot sculpt on
Klink caused the most problems.

Accessories - ***Considering the price point, all three of these figures are light on
accessories. It appears that most of the money went into the uniforms
and the license.

Hogan comes with his coffee pot/radio
doohickey. There are three pieces to it, including the pot, the
interior section, and the lid. It looks fine, but it's a fairly plain
accessory.

Klink comes with his riding crop
(must...fight urge...to make cheap joke...). It was his most often
used item on the show (still...fighting... urge...) so it makes sense, but
he needed something else.

Schultz has the best accessory in his
rifle. It's very well sculpted, and fairly historically
accurate. He also has a great belt with ammo (or snack food) pouches
that I'll count as an accessory rather than part of the uniform.

All three figures come with the new stand
that Sideshow has been using for licensed products. It works well,
although it may be a little short to work with the waists on some figures.

Outfit - ****As disappointed as I was in the accessories, I'm that much more pleased
with the uniforms. The quality is exceptional, and the details are
terrific.

Unlike some companies, Sideshow
has no fears about using the swastika as it was on the show. Klink's
uniform includes a full shirt, tie, riding style pants, new boot sculpt,
excellent hat, and fantastic overcoat. The quality of the uniform is
striking, even for Sideshow.

Schultz's uniform is similarly
done, with great material, excellent stitching, and tremendous attention to
detail. He also has the 'fat boy' padding, and they've done a great
job. He's fat in the places he should be, including his posterior, and
the padding fits tightly and snugly to his body.

That's something that all the
clothing does - fits tightly and snugly. I'm impressed by how good the
tailoring is.

Hogan has the least complicated
outfit, with just his full shirt, tie, pants, shoes and bomber jacket.
Again, the attention to detail is excellent, and he even has his wings on
his lapel and his collar.

All three figures also have
their trademark hats, and the sculpting and details are just as good.
While these uniforms are based on the show, they are so accurate that they
will look fantastic mixed in with your other military figures.

Value - **1/2
With the price point of $40, it's really pushing it. I'm grading
this value on that price point, but you should be able to find these for
$30-$35 if you're careful, and at that price you can add a half star.

Overall - Schultz ***1/2,
Hogan and Klink ***
I'll be honest - when I got these in the mail, my first thought was
"What the hell was I thinking?" I'm not a huge Hogan's
Heroes fan, so I wasn't sure why I'd ordered them.

After getting them open though,
I have to admit I'm glad I did. The uniforms alone make them well
worth it.

Schultz is my favorite of the three, and he captures the look and expression
of the character and show the best. Hogan is nice, but the least
exciting, simply because his character wasn't nearly as visually
interesting.

I'm most disappointed with
Klink, although the outfit is excellent. If you can't afford all
three, but don't want to miss out on the line, pick up Schultz.

Where to Buy -
I don't know of what bricks and mortar stores will carry these, but
there are plenty of on-line options:

- Sideshow
themselves of course. Retail is $40 plus shipping. The big advantage
here is that you'll get them right away, since they are shipping them. (MROTW
Affiliate)

- Best price I found was at Sgt.
Rock's, where you can get the set of three for $100 shipped. I'm
betting you can get them for $35 each shipped if you were buying only one.

- Entertainment
Earth has a good price at $100 for the set of three plus shipping, and
the have them in stock. (MROTW affiliate)

- Aisle
Sniper has a decent price at $100 for the set plus shipping as well, but they are still
listed as a pre-order.